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Conserved CO-FT Module Regulating Flowering Time in Chrysanthemum indicum L.

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Abstract

Chrysanthemum indicum L. is widely used in China for significant medicinal value. However, its pharmacological activities were unstable as a result of unreliable flowering time. To study the regulation of flowering time in C. indicum, we cloned the two FT-like genes from C. indicum, which were localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus of tobacco epidermal cells. Phylogenetic relationship analysis showed they were highly conserved and the CiFTL1 gene was strongly induced by short-days. Dual-luciferase assays found that CiCO could specifically bind to the promoter of CiFTL1, but could not directly interact with CiFTL2. Moreover, a CO-responsive element (CORE), localizing between -630 and -430 nucleotides from the ATG, was essential for the CiFT1 gene expression in the flowering process. Therefore, the TGTG(N2-N3)ATG was crucial for CiCO recruitment rather than the CCAAT box, which suggested the CO/FT regulatory module might be conserved in C. indicum. The research will provide sufficient information for revealing regulatory mechanisms of flowering time in C. indicum.

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Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (project no. 81503180) in the design of the study and collection of data. The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (project nos. KYZ201608 and KJQN201643) were used in supporting the analysis and interpretation of data and manuscript writing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Nanjing Agricultural University, 210095, Nanjing, China

    L. Zuo, T. Wang, Q. Guo, F. Yang, Q. Zou & M. Zhang

Authors
  1. L. Zuo
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  2. T. Wang
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  3. Q. Guo
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  4. F. Yang
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  5. Q. Zou
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  6. M. Zhang
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Contributions

Q.S. Guo, T. Wang, and L. Zuo designed the research project; L. Zuo performed the research, analyzed data, and wrote the paper. F. Yang and T. Wang modified the article. All the authors read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Q. Guo.

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Conflict of interests. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Statement on the welfare of humans or animals. This article does not contain any studies involving animals performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Abbreviations: WT—wild type; LD—long day; SD—short day; TSS—transcription start site; ORF—opening reading frame.

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Zuo, L., Wang, T., Guo, Q. et al. Conserved CO-FT Module Regulating Flowering Time in Chrysanthemum indicum L.. Russ J Plant Physiol 68, 1018–1028 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S102144372106025X

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S102144372106025X

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